“I read it on Facebook,” McMillen
told the AP. “I was so upset about this that I could not sleep. I
knew it had to be terrible for them to choose death as a way to
escape what they were living in.”

McMillen, with the assistance of the
ACLU, sued her school district in March. Officials recently agreed
to pay the teen $35,000 in damages plus attorneys' fees and adopt a
policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.

“I went through a lot of harassment
and bullying after the lawsuit, and I realized how bad it felt being
in that position,” she said.

The teen added that her family's
support helped her get through the ordeal.